Hormesis

Quick meaning: Hormesis is a noun meaning (biology, toxicology) A phenomenon in which an environmental agent or stressor produces a stimulatory or beneficial effect at low doses and an inhibitory or harmful effect at higher doses, corresponding to a biphasic dose-response relationship.

Meaning

(biology, toxicology) A phenomenon in which an environmental agent or stressor produces a stimulatory or beneficial effect at low doses and an inhibitory or harmful effect at higher doses, corresponding to a biphasic dose-response relationship.

Example Sentences

Though he is given to gee-whizzery about anything “super awesome”—Small amounts of radiation are actually good for you! It’s called radiation hormesis!—he has scant interest in the specifics of the apps that many YC companies produce; what intrigues him is their potential effect on the world.

So the concept of a permissible, safe, or “threshold” dose gained currency, and this was used to set standards in industries where workers were exposed to radiation, such as uranium mining and nuclear power generation. Some people went even further, arguing for radiation hormesis—that small doses of radiation were actually good for you.

Word Forms

• hormeses

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include xenohormesis, mitohormesis, hormonomics, biostimulation, bioeffect, ectohormone.

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